CHINA has built “weapons of mass disruption” capable of bringing Britain to a “complete standstill”, a former MI6 chief has warned.
Sir Richard Dearlove told MPs and peers at a private gathering in Parliament that Beijing has deliberately made the West dependent on its steel and technology.
The ex-spy boss warned China could hold the UK to “ransom” in an international crisis by choking off vital supplies needed to keep the National Grid and other critical infrastructure running.
He said: “Such peacetime dependencies give China strategic leverage and in a crisis it gives them weapons of mass disruption which could literally bring this country to a complete standstill.”
Sir Richard also warned Britain’s dwindling ability to manufacture vital equipment needed for its energy system had become a “chronic danger”.
He said: “In complacently deindustrialising we have not merely lost an industry, we have actually lost the ability to rebuild the energy system ourselves.
READ MORE ON POLITICS
POLL OF THE DAY
Is Burnham wrong to prioritise benefits over defence spending?
VOTE HINT
PM hints new vote on Scottish independence COULD happen with enough support
“Large scale transformers today take two years to arrive, generators up to three.
“And the grain oriented industrial steel for which there is no substitute comes from China, whose production capacity now dwarfs that of any other state.”
The warning came at a reception for MPs and peers hosted by the Coalition on Secure Technology (CST), a cross-party campaign raising the alarm over technology manufactured in hostile states.
Sir Richard also pointed to Chinese-made electric buses bought for London which are subject to software controls by their manufacturer.
Most read in The Sun
SUNNY SIDE
Met Office map reveals where will hit 24C in England this weekend
RURAL ROW
Moment man lashes out at tractor driver over who should reverse on country lane
LIFE OF SERVICE
Cops & soldiers gather for funeral of hero officer, 38, killed in A66 crash
He joked the prospect of commuters being told “your number 22 is not running today because it’s just been immobilised by the manufacturer” may sound “fairly comic” but warned the threat to the electricity grid was “altogether of another order”.
It comes after the CST warned at the weekend that Chinese technology fitted inside tractors and other internet-connected farm machinery could be used to spy on Britain’s food supplies.
Its report found Chinese-made components are commonplace in GPS-guided tractors, agricultural drones and automated irrigation systems, leaving food production “dangerously exposed”.
Experts warned hostile actors could potentially harvest information on crop yields, livestock and production forecasts or even remotely disable equipment using a “kill switch”.
The CST, led by Labour MP Graeme Downie, has called on the Government to reduce Britain’s dependence on high-risk foreign technology.
Sir Richard warned Beijing was deliberately building dependencies around the world as part of its long-term ambitions, adding: “We should take the threat seriously because the methodology for doing it is being put in place under our very noses.”